Winter Deja Vu All Over Again
by Relm Wanderer
Summary: Lina and company get stuck in a snow storm trying to travel to the secluded town of Wislinn. A town rarely visited, Wislinn is a town wrapped up in mystery. What happens there? Only time can tell. RSBI Christmas/New Years fic 2001-2003
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Notes: This was RSBI's Christmas fic for 2001. Just did minor edits, but for the most part it's the way it was when I first posted it. _

**Winter Déjà Vu All Over Again**

Part One

By Relm

Tucked away in a valley of snow a little town was protected by the harsh winds and the blowing snowstorm. The morning just falling on the little town and everyone was merry with holiday spirit. Or at least almost everyone.

In a small house in the middle of the town, in a little room near the top floor of the house, five people gathered around a little bed. In the bed lay the seeming sleeping form of a beautiful young woman with long raven black hair and very pale white skin. Her skin was so white that it almost seemed to be the color of snow. She looked so pretty and peaceful in her sleep, but sadness all around in the room for the five people who stood by this beautiful sleeping girl, who would now be forever asleep, gone to the world.

"I wish this damn day had never come!" A young man cried out who was one of the five people in the room with the girl.

"Ethan! You can't curse this day! Today is supposed to be a happy and wonderful time!" An older woman very much resembling the girl in the bed said with tears in her eyes.

"How can you say that? How could this day be happy? Damnit you lost your daughter today! If this day hadn't happened Angel would still be here!" Ethan yelled at the crying woman whom presumably was Angel's mother.

"Now, Ethan we know how much you loved Angel, but you can lose control like this. We all knew that she was sick and that she wasn't going to live forever." Angel's father tried to console Ethan.

"No! She shouldn't have died!" Ethan cried out.

"Ethan honey please stop yelling at everyone. You are going to have to let go of her. Angel is gone and not coming back." Ethan's mother said while Ethan's father held her hand.

"No I won't let her go! She will come back! And this day will never happen! Never again!" Ethan screamed at them and ran down the stairs in a mad dash.

...

The icy wind blew with a white fury of constant falling snowflakes that never seemed to end. Everything was covered with blankets of snow, even the four weary travelers caught in the snowstorm. They still moved on even though their bodies were screaming at them to stop.

"Miss Lina, are you sure there's a town nearby?" Amelia shouted to the fiery redhead leading the group of four. But the wind carried her words away leaving only a faint few unable sounds.

"What?" Lina yelled back.

"I SAID ARE WE NEAR A TOWN!"

"WHAT?"

"I SAID- Oh nevermind!"

"WHAT?"

Amelia shook her head and Lina took that as a hint to not bother pursuing the conversation.

They had gotten caught in this storm after going on another crazy adventure searching for treasure and a chimera cure lead. Unfortunately they found neither and due to a rather unruly creature they were really low on supplies. So the only choice they had was to make their way to the closest town, even though the weather was a bit unsavoury for traveling. But the nearest town was more than a day away. Luckily they did have enough supplies for at least one more day, but they would still be cutting it close.

So now they were on their way to a town called 'Wislinn' which people couldn't enter any other time of the year besides winter. For every other season there was a large barrier around the whole town making it impossible for people to enter. But on the first day of winter the barrier seemed to disappear making it possible for people to go into the town again. Though people could enter the town during the winter, no had been to the town almost ever since the barrier had appeared around the town. Because in the same year that the barrier was created the weather in the area around the town became much harsher then it had been before. The summers were extremely hot, the springs were much windier and colder, the autumns were much rainier and the winters were much colder and snowy. In fact the winters were the worst. They were extremely cold, very windy, and there were many feet of snow falling everyday at every hour. It was a nonstop constant falling of snow that didn't stop falling till winter was over.

This wouldn't have been one of Lina's first choices of places to go, but unfortunately they didn't really have a choice.

Lina frowned as she tried to get a better look at the map in her hands. Though she had her gloves on, her hands were completely frozen so just holding the map steady was a problem for her. According to the map there was a network of caves to the northeast of them which was on the way to the town. Seeing how the weather was and how close it was to night, Lina figured that it would be a better idea to take refuge in a cave for the night rather than risk hypothermia while continuing traveling.

The only problem was Lina wasn't entirely sure if she was reading the map correctly. It was very hard to concentrate when you can barely see three feet in front of you and half your body was numb from the cold. Lina wanted to ask Zelgadis what he thought but since they got into this harsh weather terrain he'd completely blanked out from everyone. He didn't seem to be aware at all at the things around him. All he did was follow Lina, but otherwise it was like his body was there and his mind wasn't. And Lina knew why too. In his chimera form Zelgadis' hearing was very sensitive to sounds. That had been proven many times before. It was one of the advantages he had in this form. But while it was an advantage it was also a big disadvantage. In a place like this were the winds screamed with icy fury, Zelgadis' chimera hearing proved to be a painful thing to have. And in a way of coping with the sounds his chimera body almost literally itself down to only the basic functions. It was a wonder that he could still move and follow them.

'I don't think it's healthy for him to stay like this for too long, we've got to get out of this cold soon. But are we going the right way?' Lina's brow creased in worry. There was nothing she could do but lead on with what she thought was the right way. It's not like she could ask Amelia or Gourry what they thought. The wind made verbal communication impossible.

...

Lina led on the group for countless hours, but they still hadn't got to the caves yet. The more Lina leaded them on following the map, the more Lina was worried. She was almost certain that she had messed up and that they were lost and traveling aimlessly. 'Of course this map could have been faulty right from the start.' Lina thought bitterly while her teeth chattered away.

It was now very dark out, and visibility was much less than before. They could only see less than a foot in front of them at a time. It was a wonder that they hadn't gotten separated yet. But that wasn't the worst of it. The snow was coming down much more harder than before and it was so much more colder. Lina couldn't feel her body at all while she walked and neither could anyone else. Though they still trekked on, they walked a fine line between consciousness and unconsciousness.

Amelia's eyelids felt like they weighted a ton. The urge to go to sleep was very strong and it took most of her concentration to stay awake. But the longer she walked, the harder it was.

They went on for another hour before one of them collapsed. Amelia was the first to fall. It took Lina almost a minute to realize the Sailune princess wasn't among them. She turned around and found Amelia a little bit behind them sprawled out on the snowy ground. As she trudged over to the fallen princess Gourry was the second to go down. Lina looked desperately between the two of them. She didn't know what to do. Zelgadis and her were the only ones left standing.

Lina went over to Zelgadis to pull him over to help her get Amelia first. But as she grabbed Zelgadis' hand Zelgadis fell forward into Lina causing them both to fall to the ground. Zelgadis was unconscious upon contact and Lina didn't have the strength to push him off her. She succumbed to sleep as quickly as everyone else.

...

Lina mumbled in content as she snuggled up in the warm sheets that covered her. Wonderful aromas of sweet baked goods filled her noise and if it had not been for her comfortable bed and the allure of sleep, Lina would be up and racing to where the food was and pigged out. She was so happy and comfortable that she didn't want to never get out of bed. But then reality hit her right in the face.

Lina sprang up right from her bed and looked at her surrounding suspiciously. The room that she was in was a nice wood furnished room with a large comfortable bed with a wood frame, little table off the side with some chairs and a few dressers and a closet. Her clothes were laid out neatly over one of the chairs all washed and dried.

That's when Lina noticed what she was wearing. She was wearing a long white nightgown with lace trimming. Her hair had been tied up in a white ribbon and she was wearing white socks. A pair of white slippers were placed right side the bed.

Before Lina could decide what to do she heard a knock on the door. An elderly lady with a tray of food in hand came in baring a smile.

"Oh good morning dear! I was so afraid that you weren't going to wake up! How are you feeling? Are you warm? You were so dreadfully cold when they brought you here. You're not feeling sick are you from the snow are you?" The lady said while setting up the tray in front of Lina on the bed. On the tray before Lina laid a bowl of wonderful smelling and looking soup, two small oranges, a breakfast roll, a glass of water, a glass of milk, and an apple cinnamon tart. "There, now eat up. If you are hungry after this like your blond friend then just let me know, I've lots more food ready to be eaten." The lady flashed her a very warm smile.

Lina was so dumbfounded that all she could do was stare at the woman with confusion. But after a moment Lina regained her voice. "Where are am I? And where are my friends? What happened?"

"Oh yes dear I should have told you that from the start! It must be very confusing to end up in a place like this with no memory of coming here! Okay I'll explain first by telling you my name. My name's Meredith Knight and right now you are in an inn that my husband Harris and I run. And the town that you are in is Wislinn. Some of the townspeople found you are your three friends unconscious in the snow near the town. And I have to say I was extremely surprised and worried when they brought you three here. You were all so frozen to the bone and so blue in the face. Especially that stony friend of yours, but I have the feeling he's blue on a normal basis. Well they brought you four here because we have the room. And I have to say I'm very happy that you all seem to be better now. You all had me so worried."

Lina had a very small feeling that there was something wrong with this picture but she didn't know why. The whole story seemed to make sense and the food in front of her did look very delicious. It was taking most of her control to keep from eating right away. "And where are my friends?"

"Well you're blond friend whom I believe is named Gourry, was up right after I started cooking. Your polite friend named Amelia came down shortly after Gourry just as I was about to bring her up some food. And as for your stony friend who was I told is named Zelgadis is still in his room sleeping. He seemed to be the worst of the four of you when you were all brought in. Why don't you eat up and go see him? He's in the room right next to you on the left. Well I'll leave you to eat. If you need anything I'll be downstairs." Mrs. Knight gave Lina one last warm smile before she left Lina alone in her room.

Immediately right after Lina was alone she dived right into her food. Within seconds it was all gone and Lina was still hungry. It seems that she was going to have to take Mrs. Knight on her food offer. But she was going to do that later. First she wanted to check on Zelgadis.

Lina crept quietly over into Zelgadis' room. And as expected Zelgadis was asleep in his bed. He didn't seem to be sick or anything. He looked perfectly fine to Lina's eyes.

In fact Zelgadis was sleeping so peacefully that Lina almost didn't want to wake him up. Almost.

"Hey Zel! Wake up!" Lina yelled at him.

Zelgadis woke up with a start. "What the?"

"Good morning Zel." Lina said with a mischievous grin.

Zelgadis groaned. "Why did you have to wake me up? I was having a nice dream… And why are you dressed like that?" Zelgadis asked eying the not so typical sleeping outfit that Lina was dressed in.

Lina looked at herself and blushed. She forgot that she was still wearing the nightgown. But then she noted what Zelgadis wearing. "Well I could ask you the same question."

Zelgadis looked himself over and saw that he wasn't wearing his normal ivory outfit. He had on a silky blue matching shirt and pants. He blushed bright red, which was a nice contrast to all the blue. "Where are we and why am I dressed like this?"

Lina laughed. "Well we didn't make it to Wislinn. We all ended up collapsing in the snow. But luckily some of the townspeople found us and brought us into town. And you're probably dressed like that because your clothes were wet and you needed something dry and warm to wear." Lina looked around the room to table and chairs in the room where Zelgadis' clothes should been. But surprisingly enough his clothes weren't there. In fact his clothes didn't seem to be anywhere in his room. "Well looks like your clothes are still wet. Guess you'll have to walk around in your pyjamas for a little while." Lina said while walking out of the room.

"Where are you going?"

"To go get changed back into my clothes and go downstairs to get some more to eat. I guess I'll see you downstairs Zel."

"Hey! Why do you get to wear your normal clothes and I don't? You should suffer just as much as me." Zelgadis said darkly.

"Ha ha Zel, too bad." Lina chuckled and walked off.

...

Later on Zelgadis finally came downstairs to met Lina and the others, still in his pyjamas. He was quite discontented about not being able to wear his own clothes.

"Oh hello dear you're up! I'm so sorry about your clothes. I'll get them to you as soon as they are dry. They shouldn't take much longer I've got them drying over the fire." Mrs. Knight apologized before going back into the kitchen.

Zelgadis mumbled a thank you while taking a seat next to the others. Fortunately for Zelgadis there were no other people staying at the inn so there was no one else to see him besides Lina and the others.

Mrs. Knight returned with breakfast for Zelgadis and more food for Lina and Gourry.

"Thank you Mrs. Knight." Gourry said with his mouth full of food.

"Well you all eat up dears. I'm going to go check on my daughter right now."

"Isn't this place so nice?" Amelia gushed shortly after Mrs. Knight had left.

"Yeah! Free food!" Lina cheered.

"No Miss Lina that's not what I meant! Everyone here is so nice. And according to Mrs. Knight tomorrow is this towns' annual winter celebration."

"Really what do they do for their celebration?"

"They apparently have lots of food, singing, dancing, and gifts. And it's a six day celebration that ends with the lasts day with fireworks and large feast where everyone exchanges gifts."

"And which day is tomorrow? The first day?"

"No it's the last day."

Lina grinned with a large evil grin. "If tomorrow is the last day, then that means this is the fifth day and that means more free food!"

Amelia and Zelgadis both sweatdropped.

"Miss Lina…"

"Well I'll have to make sure I take advantage of this opportunity, OHOHOHOHOHOH!" Lina laughed and then cringed once she realized who she just sounded like.

...

With a bouquet of red roses in hand and a vial of a strange purple potion, a young man with short light blue hair and brown eyes knocked on the Wislinn Inn.

Mrs. Knight answered the door with the same cheery smile she always has. "Why hello there deary, please come in!"

"Good morning Mrs. Knight, I was wondering if I could see your daughter is she's okay to see company this morning." The young man asked in the most polite voice he muster.

"Why of course you can sonny. I'm so lucky that my little baby has got such a wonderful young man for a fiancé. Makes me happy to know that she'll be very happy in the future." Mrs. Knight gushed as she leaded the young man to her daughter's room.

"Hello darling." The young man said to Mrs. Knight's daughter.

"Oh Ethan you can to visit me!"

"Of course I did Angel. I wouldn't go a day without seeing your beautiful face. Angel darling I've got a potion for you that might make you feel better." Ethan held up the vial of the purple potion in his hands.

...

Many hours later Lina and the others made it back to the inn with her full stomachs and armloads of free stuff. They had decided that they were going to at least stay for the last day of the celebration so they would do their shopping for supplies another day. And since Mrs. Knight had offered for them to stay as long as they wanted for free they were going to at least stay one or two more days.

"Oh that was fun! I can't wait till tomorrow!" Amelia said with a contented smile.

"I'm stuffed!" Lina said while patting her stomach.

"I didn't think that was possible…" Gourry said with amazement.

Lina hit him over the head, hard before retiring to her room to sleep.

...

The next morning Lina mumbled half asleep in her room. The smells of sweet baked goods woke her up. Just as she got up she heard a knock on her door and Mrs. Knight came in. She came in holding the same tray with the exact same breakfast that she had brought to Lina the day before. She was even sporting the exact same smile, and not to mention she was wearing the exact same clothes too.

"Oh good morning dear! I was so afraid that you weren't going to wake up! How are you feeling? Are you warm? You were so dreadfully cold when they brought you here. You're not feeling sick are you from the snow are you?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Notes: This is RSBI's New Years fic for 2001/2002. Again minor edits so I didn't change too much. _

**Winter Déjà Vu All Over Again**

Part Two

By Relm

Mrs. Knight set up the tray of food in the exact same way that she had done the day before. "There, now eat up. If you are hungry after this like your blond friend then just let me know, I've lots more food ready to be eaten." She even flashed the same warm smile as the previous day.

"Where are am I? And where are my friends? What happened?" Lina asked in confusion. She had a strange feeling that there was something terribly wrong with all this.

"Oh yes dear I should have told you that from the start! It must be very confusing to end up in a place like this with no memory of coming here! Okay I'll explain first by telling you my name. My name's Meredith Knight and right now you are in an inn that my husband Harris and I run. And the town that you are in is Wislinn. Some of the townspeople found you are your three friends unconscious in the snow near the town. And I have to say I was extremely surprised and worried when they brought you four here. You were all so frozen to the bone and so blue in the face. Especially that stony friend of yours, but I have the feeling he's blue on a normal basis. Well they brought you four here because we have the room. And I have to say I'm very happy that you all seem to be better now. You all had me so worried."

Lina frowned. That same feeling kept nagging at her in the back of her head. She wanted to ignore it, but it still remained there even though what Mrs. Knight said seemed to be a plausible and reasonable explanation. She was so absorbed with thought that she didn't even pay any notice to the food in front of her. "And where are my friends?"

"Well you're blond friend whom I believe is named Gourry, was up right after I started cooking. Your polite friend named Amelia came down shortly after Gourry just as I was about to bring her up some food. And as for your stony friend who was I told is named Zelgadis is still in his room sleeping. He seemed to be the worst of the four of you when you were all brought in. Why don't you eat up and go see him? He's in the room right next to you on the left. Well I'll leave you to eat. If you need anything I'll be downstairs." Mrs. Knight gave Lina one last warm smile before she left Lina alone in her room.

Rather than brood over little things, Lina shrugged off her nagging feelings and dived right into her food. 'I'll go see Zel after I finish my breakfast.'

...

The day went on exactly as it had the day before with exact same events. The only thing that was different was that the young man named Ethan didn't visit his fiancée Angel this time. Instead the young man spent his time brooding in his laboratory. He was being faced with the same problem as he always had, trying to cure his fiancée Angel of her sickness.

Angel had been sick for almost half her life with a rare illness that no one in the town knew how to cure. Ethan had tried many times to see if he could create a potion to cure her before her illness took her over. He knew that if the next day passes and Angel wasn't cured she would die.

The last potion he had brought her had neutralized the effects of the illness for only five hours, but it was the longest lasting one he had made so far.

It was very frustrating to Ethan; because no matter how hard he tried he couldn't make a potion that could permanently cure Angel. But still he persevered on though he had other things to worry about. The four travelers that had been brought into the town might cause problems for Ethan.

'I'm already having enough problems controlling all the townspeople as it without them being here. I'm not sure if I'll be able to control their minds as well for long… Though I've managed to already to do this for several days now with them here and they haven't suspected anything so perhaps I can still keep this up…' Ethan sighed deeply. 'I think it's time for my daily visit to my dear Angel.'

...

Angel breathed hard as the sharp pains burned in her chest. She was having quite a bit of difficulty breathing and the constant pain didn't help much either.

She strained her eyes to try and get a better look at the grandfather clock that was at the other end of her bed. If she was seeing it correctly it was approximately 11:44 p.m. Angel sighed in despair.

'Oh please don't let me die just yet… I want to live till the last day of the festival…' Angel pleaded in thought rather than with her voice. Her body was far too weak and in too much pain to say anything more than a horse whisper.

A sudden sharp spasm of pain wracked through her body as her vision turned dark and she closed her eyes for the very last time. Just as suddenly as the pain had come, Angel's body loosened for she finally had peace.

The clock ticked on. The short hand was nearing the twelve and long hand coming closer as well. It continued ticking in the silent room with its deafening tick as the long hand finally reached the twelve. Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick…

...

Lina mumbled half asleep in her room as wonderful aromas slowly entered the small but comfortable wooden furnished room.

Lina opened her eyes a crack in confusion and sat up in her bed. Just then she heard a knock on the door.

Mrs. Knight came right in with a tray of breakfast for Lina that was the same as the many other times that had been brought in that Mrs. Knight didn't remember.

"Oh good morning dear! I was so afraid that you weren't going to wake up! How are you feeling? Are you warm? You were so dreadfully cold when they brought you here. You're not feeling sick are you from the snow are you?" Mrs. Knight said as she placed down the tray of food in front of Lina.

Lina blinked. All she could think about was that this all seemed far too familiar somehow.

"There, now eat up. If you are hungry after this like your blond friend then just let me know, I've lots more food ready to be eaten." Mrs. Knight smiled fondly at Lina.

"Where are am I? And where are my friends? What happened?" Lina asked in suspicion.

"Oh yes dear I should have told you that from the start! It must be very confusing to end up in a place like this with no memory of coming here! Okay I'll explain first by telling you my name. My name's Meredith Knight and right now you are in an inn that my husband Harris and I run. And the town that you are in is Wislinn. Some of the townspeople found you are your three friends unconscious in the snow near the town. And I have to say I was extremely surprised and worried when they brought you three here. You were all so frozen to the bone and so blue in the face. Especially that stony friend of yours, but I have the feeling he's blue on a normal basis. Well they brought you four here because we have the room. And I have to say I'm very happy that you all seem to be better now. You all had me so worried."

Rather than respond Lina paused for a moment. Even as she asked Mrs. Knight questions she knew exactly what Mrs. Knight was going to say. It was rather weird and creepy. "And where are my friends?"

"Well you're blond friend whom I believe is named Gourry, was up right after I started cooking. Your polite friend named Amelia came down shortly after Gourry just as I was about to bring her up some food. And as for your stony friend who was I told is named Zelgadis is still in his room sleeping. He seemed to be the worst of the four of you when you were all brought in. Why don't you eat up and go see him? He's in the room right next to you on the left. Well I'll leave you to eat. If you need anything I'll be downstairs." Mrs. Knight gave Lina one last warm smile before she left Lina alone in her room.

Lina stared down at the food that had been laid out in front of her. What she saw was bowl of wonderful smelling and looking soup, two small oranges, a breakfast roll, a glass of water, a glass of milk, and an apple cinnamon tart.

Instead of just instantly wolfing down the food like you might expect her too, Lina just continued to stare at the food. The thoughts that should have been going through her head as she looked down at the breakfast were not present in her mind. All she could think about was how it looked too damned familiar. Like as if she had in front of her the same breakfast that she had the previous day. But logic argued with Lina's sense of déjà vu. Logic dictated that she had never been in Wislinn before and that the previous morning she had been camping out with Zelgadis, Amelia and Gourry and they had eaten bread and dried fruit.

But even though she had no memory to support it, Lina was damned certain that she had gone through all this before.

She mentally thought over what she knew of Wislinn, which unfortunately wasn't much. She knew of the barrier that prevents people from entering the city every season of the year with winter as the only exception.

Then there was also the strange weather that surrounded the area around the town. Which most likely the side effects to the barrier spell.

And then she also knew that not one person has visited the city since the barrier appeared.

Why had no one gone to the town after the barrier appeared? Well that was an easy one, who could with the combination of the spell barrier and the weather barrier? The only times of the year you could reach the city without the weather preventing you, the barrier around the city wouldn't let you in. And the only time of the year when the barrier wasn't up the harsh wind and weather prevented you from getting there.

So then the question becomes, why would someone make a barrier such as this?

Oh yes, Lina was damned certain that it was a person trying to keep visitors out. She didn't believe some of the rumours that went around. Some people said that it was because of the woods around the town that it was natures will that these people be kept prisoners for some injustice to nature that they've done. Others believed it was the work of some powerful monster, while some said it was work of a vengeful spirit.

Now this wasn't the style of a monster. If it had been one no one in this town would be happy like they seemed to be. They would be miserable or in lots of pain. And Lina doubted that the spirits of the woods would waste their energy, keeping people confined to a town.

Of course the idea of the vengeful spirit did sound almost plausible, but there was still a problem with it. Though a spirit could use magic powers after death it was usually very limited. To affect such a large area with such a powerful spell, it would require taping into darker energy, using magic amplifiers, and constant spell maintenance.

Spirits lack the ability to tap into such large magic resources and since they don't have physical bodies using magic amplifiers are useless. And as for the spell maintenance, spirits don't have the concentration to keep such a spell going. So the more logical explanation was that it was a person using this spell and was most likely in the town somewhere.

'But to what end? Why would someone want to prevent someone from entering the city?' Lina thought while idling tapping her fingers on the tray as she chewed on the breakfast roll.

'Unless it's not to keep people out, but to prevent the townspeople from getting out!' Lina thought in triumphant. But then something else dawned on her. 'We didn't enter the town last night. We collapsed in the snow and it was the townspeople that brought us in. If the spell caster was trying to keep them in none of them would have been able to go out and find us.' Lina slumped back onto the pillow behind her in irritation.

Lina's stomach was growling at her to get her to eat faster but she was too engrossed in thought to eat any more quickly.

'Well then the spell is meant to keep people out. But why? And why do I keep getting this sense of déjà vu? Or am I just going nuts? No I do know that if I go in Zelgadis' room I'm going to find him sleeping wearing matching blue silky pajamas. And that when I go downstairs Amelia is going to tell us that it's the fifth day of Wislinn's six day winter celebration. So what does that prove? That this day is constantly repeating itself? And if that's true then how long has it been going on like this?' Lina mused while massaging her temples. All this was giving her one large headache. But that was a scary thought, how long had they been stuck in this town, living out the same day over and over again? And how long were the people of Wislinn living through this before they came to the town?

Of course Lina also knew that she could just be thinking this all through and it might not even be true. Lina had no physical proof that they were stuck in this repeating time loop that only seemed to affect the town of Wislinn. 'I guess the only way I'll know for sure is when I wake up tomorrow.'

...

Ethan mulled over his calculations while in his laboratory, the only room in the whole town that wasn't affected by the time loop. He was working on yet another one of his potions, trying another idea. This was his third one today and after this he was going to stop for the day. The reason being since this room wasn't affected by the loop Ethan couldn't stay there for too long. He couldn't let himself age too much or otherwise the townspeople might suspect something if he started appearing older then he should be. Doing this was quite a risky thing to do but this was the only way Ethan could get anywhere with his work.

Ethan had tried at the beginning with his laboratory being affected in the time loop along with the rest of the town but it got far too frustrating. There would be some experiments that he had going one day that he wanted to continue the next day but when he got up the next day all the work he had done the previous day wasn't there. So he had to redo everything he had done before just so that he could get to his new idea. Eventually he got so fed up with all his work disappearing on him that he made it possible that his laboratory wouldn't be affected by the loop.

He had lost track long ago just how long this day had been repeating itself. Ethan's original intention when he started all this wasn't too take years to find a way to save Angel, it was supposed to be just a few days, perhaps a few months at most. But that naturally wasn't the case. He didn't care how long had passed, all that matter him was Angel, his Angel.

...

Lina went the whole day observing the city without telling anyone about her suspicions. All that she wanted to do was to make sure she knew as much as possible about Wislinn. She also made special note to know exactly what time it was at all times. She wanted to know exactly when the time loop starts and begins. And while she was waiting around she was taking advantage of the free food naturally.

Fortunately for Lina there was one very large clock in the town square that she could keep track of the time without trouble.

Lots of the townspeople where gathered around in the square continuing their six day party despite the cold weather.

Lina pulled her coat more tightly around her body. She was borrowing one of Mrs. Knight's old coats since her cloak was still a little wet and not really that warm to start off with.

The cold wind blew softy through the town, blowing small flakes of snow onto the already white dusted streets. Time passed by very slowly but no one in the town square had a care at all. They were happy and completely obvious to what was going to happen.

...

Angel glanced desperately at the clock in her room as it ticked away.

...

11:30 p.m.

Lina nervously tapped her fingers against her crossed arms.

...

11:40 p.m.

Zelgadis took another sip of his wine while Gourry was asleep in his chair next to Zel. Amelia was already in bed.

...

11:49 p.m.

Angel lay motionless in her bed not feeling any pain anymore.

...

11:59 p.m.

Lina watched the clock as the long hand reached the twelve along with everyone else in the square.

The townspeople started to count down once the ten-second mark was reached.

"Ten!"

"Nine!"

"Eight!"

"Seven!"

"Six!"

"Five!"

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

The clock struck midnight.

...

Lina woke in her bed in the inn not remembering going to bed the previous night.

There was a soft knock on her door and Mrs. Knight came in holding the same tray of breakfast that she had brought in the day before and wearing the exact same clothes she had been wearing the day before as well.

"Oh good morning dear! I was so afraid that you weren't going to wake up! How are you feeling? Are you warm? You were so dreadfully cold when they brought you here. You're not feeling sick are you from the snow are you?"


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Notes: This is RSBI's Christmas fic from 2002. Again minor edits here and there but for the most part it's the same._

**Winter Déjà Vu All Over Again**

Part Three

By Relm

Lina wasn't surprised to be back in the inn bed with Mrs. Knight coming in with a tray of food looking slightly concerned.

"There, now eat up. If you are hungry after like your blond friend then just let me know, I've got lots more food ready to be eaten." Mrs. Knight said warmly setting the tray of food in front of Lina.

"Where am I? And where are my friends? What happened?" Lina asked even though she knew what the answer was. 'Might as well stick with the routine.'

"Oh yes dear I should have told you that from the start! It must be very confusing to end up in a place like this with no memory of coming here! Okay I'll explain first by telling you my name. My name's Meredith Knight and right now you are in an inn that my husband Harris and I run. And the town that you are in is Wislinn. Some of the townspeople found you and your three friends unconscious in the snow near the town. And I have to say I was extremely surprised and worried when they brought you four here. You were all so frozen to the bone and so blue in the face. Especially that stony friend of yours, but I have the feeling he's blue on a normal basis. Well they brought you four here because we have the room. And I have to say I'm very happy that you all seem to be better now. You all had me so worried."

"And where are my friends?" Lina prompt Mrs. Knight. 'I'd better figure out how to stop this time loop soon. Otherwise I'll go nuts having to go through this every morning.'

"Well your blond friend whom I believe is named Gourry, was up right after I started cooking. Your polite friend named Amelia came down shortly after Gourry just as I was about to bring her up some food. And as for your stony friend whom I was told is named Zelgadis is still in his room sleeping. He seemed to be the worst of the four of you when you were all brought in. Why don't you eat up and go see him? He's in the room right next to you on the left. Well I'll leave you to eat. If you need anything I'll be downstairs." Mrs. Knight gave Lina a warm smile before leaving Lina to her breakfast.

After Mrs. Knight left Lina eyed the food that had been left for her to eat.

It was the same soup, fruit, tart, drinks and roll that she had the last few days.

Lina frowned. This breakfast had been good the first time she had it. And even though it did taste good, after eating it over and over again every morning Lina was getting tired of it.

'I'd better figure out how to break this spell soon or otherwise I'll go nuts having this every morning.' Lina frowned again as she slowly ate her breakfast. 'Wait a minute, didn't I think something like that when Mrs. Knight came in? Gah! Too much repetition!'

...

After breakfast Lina went to go visit Zelgadis.

Lina didn't bother to knock, she just went right in. And as expected Zelgadis was still sleeping all curled up in his blankets.

Lina had to grin, he looked like a little kid sleeping like he was.

"Hey Zel, wake up." Lina gave him a little nudge.

Zelgadis murmured trying desperately to hold onto his sleeping state.

"Zel!" Lina shoved his time.

Zelgadis inwardly groaned. "Why did you have to wake me up? I was having a nice dream… And why are you dressed like that?" Zelgadis said eying the white nightgown Lina was wearing.

Lina rolled her eyes. 'Just like the last time.' "I'm getting a little sick of this…" Lina muttered under her breath.

"What happened to my clothes?" Zelgadis exclaimed once he finally realized what he was wearing.

"Still wet. Okay here goes… we're in Wislinn but we were dragged here because we all collapsed in the snow outside the town. We were brought here the Wislinn Inn because they had the room to put us up and they have been taking care of us. Mr. and Mrs. Knight are the ones who run this inn. And today is the second to last day of Wislinn's winter festival." Lina said in a slightly monotone voice.

Zelgadis gave Lina a strange look for the lack of dynamics in her voice. "Okay so we did made it here after all."

"Yeah and we're stuck in a time loop." Lina said very calmly.

Zelgadis whom was still distraught about his clothes and was still trying to take in the situation didn't catch what Lina said right away. "What?"

"Looks like the cold has affected your reaction time." Lina half-heartedly joked.

"A time loop? Are you sure?"

"Yup. This day keeps on repeating itself. Only no one seems to be aware of it. I'm the only one whose mind doesn't seem to be affected."

"How many times has this day repeated and how are you sure it's repeating?" Zelgadis got up and sat next to Lina on the bed.

"Believe me if we go downstairs Amelia and Gourry will be eating. Mrs. Knight will apologize about your clothes still being wet. And Amelia will tell us about Wislinn's winter festival. As for how many times this day has repeated… twice, a dozen, two hundred… I have no idea. I don't know how many times it repeated before I started to become aware of the loop. And even when I started to realize what was going on it just felt like déjà vu."

Zelgadis frowned. This did sound very crazy, but Lina wasn't one to lie about something like this. Plus Zelgadis did have to admit this all seemed a little too familiar even though he hadn't been here before. "So we might have been stuck here for years for all we know." That was a little bit of unsettling thought. "But the days before we came here are so clear in my mind."

"Yeah I know they are very clear in my mind too. But I know that this keeps repeating itself, literately."

"What time does it start and what time does the loop end and start itself up again?"

"For me it starts when I wake up in the inn. But according to Mrs. Knight we were brought in I think last night."

Zelgadis raised an eyebrow. "You think?"

"Well it may be a time loop but it's still a little fuzzy in my head."

"If Mrs. Knight has memory of us being brought in it must be part of the loop."

"But it must have been late that night thus making it part of today. More likely so the loop starts up at 12:00 am." Lina concluded.

"How do you figure that?"

"Because the loop ends and starts itself up again right as the clock strikes midnight." Lina remembered how strange that felt. One moment she was standing outside in the cold at night and the next she was waking up in a bed and it was morning.

"Making it a full 24 hours. Any idea who is causing this?"

"I figure it must be someone in the town. Wouldn't make sense for it to be a monster or a demon because then they would be causing more carnage and pain. But everyone here looks happy and content and don't even have any idea that they are in a time loop. And it has to be a person because this spell is too complex with the weather exterior barrier and the inner barrier with the time loop. So it has to be a person who is in this town causing the loop. And since this day keeps repeating all the people do the same thing each time. All we need to do is find the person whose actions aren't consistent with the loop."

"Like yourself?" Zelgadis smirked.

Lina rolled her eyes.

"But how come your memory isn't affected by the loop?"

"Well think about it this way. This loop was probably going on long before we ever came here. And probably that's why there has been this barrier and exterior weather barrier around the town."

"To prevent people to enter and disrupt the flow of the loop."

"Right. Only the internal barrier isn't up at winter because that's the season when the loop started. And since the weather is so bad in the winter it still works to keep people out. But when we came into the picture we must have added more pressure on the person holding up the spell for the loop. And maybe they were fine for a little while after we got here-"

"But it's becoming too much so the spell is starting to degrade a bit." Zelgadis finished off.

"Right."

"So I guess we should start investigating to find out whose actions besides you differ from loop to loop. But Lina are you sure the person doing this is in this town? The person could be else wear."

"I doubt it. They wouldn't be able to survive too well outside the barrier and to focus such a complex spell they would have to be in the center of it all."

Zelgadis nodded his head in agreement. "So then let's get started."

...

For the most part of the day Lina and Zelgadis observed the people of the town trying to figure out who was doing what at what time. They both deemed it pointless to write down what they saw on paper because the paper would most likely disappear when the next loop started up. But nether less they did it anyway.

"Zel what do you figure would happen if we left the town before the next loop started up?" Lina asked Zelgadis while trying to warm her numbing hands.

"You mean outside the barrier? Well I guess one of two things. Either we'd get out and the loop wouldn't affect us. Or-"

"Or we'd still be affected and end up waking up in the inn again." Lina finished off.

"But with the weather the way it is outside we wouldn't do well anyway. We just barely made it here as it is."

"Yeah and we don't know how far the time loop barrier reaches too. So we've got no choice. We have to stop the spell causing the barrier and the time loop. Plus I wouldn't feel quite right about leaving all these people doomed to repeat this day forever." Lina said while frowning. 'But not like they are even aware of it anyway.'

...

Ethan watched Lina and Zelgadis as they investigated the town. Since he had started the time barrier he himself knew of the comings and goings of everyone in the town. And when the group of four came, Ethan made sure to keep tabs on their actions so that he'll know what they will be doing and to make sure the loop was still working despite the extra stress.

For the first little while Lina and the others fit right in doing the same actions during each loop. But then Lina's actions started to differ.

Ethan watched Lina with extra interest. 'That red head isn't being affected from the loop like the rest. I do sense a strong amount of magic power within her. And if she remembers and is aware of the daily repetition then she may end up being a problem to me. I must cure Angel before the barrier can be lifted. I can't have any meddling sorceresses messing with my plans. But what can I do about her?' Ethan wondered.

...

Lina and Zelgadis went on writing down what they could for the whole day. The only breaks they took were to eat. And even while they were eating they were still jotting down notes on those around them.

"Lina is there anyone you've seen whose actions differ from the other days yet?" Zelgadis asked as they walked through the town square.

"Not yet. This all looks the same as yesterday. What time is it right now?"

"According to the large clock in the center of the town it's about 11:10 pm."

"Fifty more minutes till the loop starts up again."

"Why do you think this loop is going on for?"

"That's something I've been trying to figure out. Why would someone want to keep all these people trapped here and force them to repeat the same day over and over? There has to be a reason why someone wants to keep everyone here. But I guess we'll figure that out once we find out who's doing this."

Zelgadis looked at the large clock again. "In order to do a spell of this magnitude the person would have to be a very powerful mage or have a large amplifier or an anchor to focus the spell onto."

"Yeah. And since it's a time spell it would more likely be a clock of some type." Lina also looked at the large clock in the middle of the town.

"Do you want to check it out?" Zelgadis asked referring to the clock.

"Sure why not. We've got the time." Lina half joked.

Zelgadis just shook his head at that comment.

The two of them went to the clock. It was at the top of a very small clock tower that was only two stories tall. Neither Lina nor Zelgadis could feel and type of magic essence from the tower but they still searched around it. There was a door around the back and it wasn't locked. Lina gave Zelgadis a look before they went inside.

Inside the clock tower there were many moving gears and parts but nothing out of the ordinary. There was a stairway that led up to the second floor. They went up and it led up to a balcony that overlooked the town. But still nothing out of the ordinary.

"This isn't an anchor to the spell." Lina commented looking up at the clock face from the balcony that was under it. Snowflakes fell from the sky and onto Lina's face which stung her face and made her look down.

Below them people were singing and many people gathered in the streets.

"It's a pretty view huh Lina?" Zelgadis smiled at Lina.

"Yeah it is." From where they were they could see the many trees the surrounded the town. They were all dusted with thick layers of snow. The whole view was one of white. But it was strange it all looked like a peaceful cold winter night outside. Though outside the barrier it was a raging blizzard. Only in this town it was peaceful. "Pretty but cold." Lina shivered. Like before she was wearing one of Mrs. Knight's old coats because her cloak was still wet. It was an old coat with holes that didn't keep Lina too warm but it was better than nothing.

Zelgadis put his arm around Lina. "How about we go inside. We've done enough for now we'll just pick it up the next loop okay?" Zelgadis suggested.

Lina didn't say much. She wasn't used to any type of affectionate gestures from Zelgadis at all. 'I guess all the snowy cheeriness and spirit can even get to him too.' Lina had to grin at that thought.

...

Lina woke up to the smells of baked goods. She was in the inn bed; the loop had started up again.

There was a soft knock on her door and Mrs. Knight came in holding the same tray of breakfast that she had brought in the day before and wearing the exact same clothes she had been wearing the day before as well.

"Oh good morning dear! I was so afraid that you weren't going to wake up! How are you feeling? Are you warm? You were so dreadfully cold when they brought you here. You're not feeling sick are you from the snow are you?" Mrs. Knight said with concern. "There, now eat up. If you are hungry after like your blond friend then just let me know, I've got lots more food ready to be eaten." Mrs. Knight said warmly setting the tray of food in front of Lina.

"Where am I? And where are my friends? What happened?" Lina asked yet again.

"Oh yes dear I should have told you that from the start! It must be very confusing to end up in a place like this with no memory of coming here! Okay I'll explain first by telling you my name. My name's Meredith Knight and right now you are in an inn that my husband Harris and I run. And the town that you are in is Wislinn. Some of the townspeople found you and your three friends unconscious in the snow near the town. And I have to say I was extremely surprised and worried when they brought you four here. You were all so frozen to the bone and so blue in the face. Especially that stony friend of yours, but I have the feeling he's blue on a normal basis. Well they brought you four here because we have the room. And I have to say I'm very happy that you all seem to be better now. You all had me so worried."

"And where are my friends?" Lina prompt. 'I think I'll try something different tomorrow and see what her reaction is.'

"Well your blond friend whom I believe is named Gourry, was up right after I started cooking. Your polite friend named Amelia came down shortly after Gourry just as I was about to bring her up some food. And as for your stony friend whom I was told is named Zelgadis is still in his room sleeping. He seemed to be the worst of the four of you when you were all brought in. Why don't you eat up and go see him? He's in the room right next to you on the left. Well I'll leave you to eat. If you need anything I'll be downstairs." Mrs. Knight gave Lina a warm smile before leaving Lina to her breakfast.

There it was again the same breakfast she had been eating for the past we days. Only this time something was slightly different. Before she had been brought a glass of milk and a glass of water. Only this time it was a glass of milk and a glass of apple juice. 'What's going on here?' Lina wondered. But even though everything else was the same Lina was still thankful for the juice.

...

With breakfast out of the way Lina put her slippers on and went straight to Zelgadis' room. She didn't even bother change.

Zelgadis' room was the same sight it had been the other days. Zelgadis, sleeping all nice and cozy in his bed.

'Hopefully he'll remember this time.' Lina walked over to Zelgadis and gave him a good shove. "Wake up." Lina commanded.

Zelgadis woke up groaning. "Why did you have to wake me up? I was having a nice dream… And why are you dressed like that?" Zelgadis eyed Lina's nightgown.

"You mean you don't remember?"

"Huh? Remember what? Where are we? What's going on? Hey what the? What happened to my clothes?" Zelgadis exclaimed.

Lina sweatdropped. "You're kidding me; you mean you really don't remember at all?"

"Remember what? And seriously where's my clothes?" Zelgadis demanded.

"More likely drying someplace. You'll get them later. You don't remember about the time loop? And us going around investigating yesterday? You don't remember at all?"

"The only thing I remember about yesterday was starting to trek to Wislinn through the harsh weather. The rest is blank in my mind. And what do you mean by a time loop?"

Lina let out a heavy sight. 'Damnit! And I was hoping he'd remember too. This is going to make things harder and much more irritating.' "Okay Zel I'll explain. First of all we're in Wislinn…" Lina started to explain.

...

Ethan listened outside Zelgadis' door. He himself was curious if the chimera could remember the events of the past loops.

'Well it looks like she is the only one. Perhaps it might be best for me to remove the problem.'

...

After going over it again with him, Lina and Zelgadis went back to investigating. It was driving Lina nuts because he kept asking the same questions as the day before.

"Lina is there anyone you've seen whose actions differ from the other days yet?"

Lina clenched her teeth. "Grr! You asked that last time too!"

"Well I have no memory of the last loop so how am I supposed to know?"

Lina grumbled in reply.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Lina snapped at him.

"Is there anyone?"

"No!"

"Okay then."

There was a small lapse of silence between the two. Lina was the first to break.

"What time is it?"

Zelgadis looked towards the large clock. "According to the clock it's about 11:42 pm, only eighteen more minutes left." He looked over at the clock and then back at Lina. "In order to do a spell of this magnitude the person would have to be a very powerful mage or-"

"It's not the clock." Lina finished off.

"What?"

"You were going to suggest that the person would need an amplifier or an anchor to do the spell. So I'm telling you it's not the clock in the town square."

"We checked it out already?"

"Yup during the last loop. You were in such a good mood you even put your arm around me." Lina half teased.

Zelgadis just gave her a strange look or not. Lina was known to over exaggerate things so he had no idea if she was just making that up or not. But he chose not to comment.

The two of them continued walking around the town and as they passed a building they both felt a strange wave of magic power.

"What was that?" Lina said looking around.

"Feels like it came from over there." Zelgadis pointed to a house they just past. Right directly behind it there was another house.

"Which one, the first or the second?"

"Not sure…"

"You want to spilt up and check them out?" Lina suggested.

"Okay I'll take the first one you take the one behind it."

Lina nodded and the two of them spilt up.

The magic power wasn't too strong but it got stronger the closer they got to the houses. Zelgadis went to check the perimeter of the first house and couldn't really pin point where the magic power was coming from.

Lina slowly inched around the second house and the magic power felt much stronger. It seemed to be coming from a basement door leading downwards on the backside of the building. 'It's coming from down there. Maybe this is where the spell is centered!' Lina exclaimed. She was just about to yell out for Zelgadis when I blow to the head from behind made her vision go black.

...

Zelgadis eventually determined that it was the other house where the magic power was coming from. He couldn't see the clock in the town square from where he was but he figured he didn't have much time left.

Zelgadis sprinted over to the other house to see if he could find Lina. But when he got the backside of the other building Lina was nowhere to be seen.

"Lina? Where are you?" Zelgadis called out but he got no answer. He looked down to examine the snow from the tracks he could tell Lina had walked back here and looked to have been dragged off by the owner of the second set of tracks. She seemed to have been dragged over to the basement door and then probably inside there.

Zelgadis tried the door but it was locked. 'Damnit!' He was just about to knock down the door.

...

Zelgadis woke up to the feel of someone's hand on his forehead. "What…?" Zelgadis mumbled.

"I'm sorry dear I didn't mean to wake you up." A middle aged woman stood before him with an apologetic smile.

"What's going on?"

"I'm sorry again! I should explain." The woman put the tray of food down in front of Zelgadis before she started. "My name is Meredith Knight and you are in the Wislinn Inn an inn that my husband Harris and I own. From the name of the place you can get that this town you are in is Wislinn. Some of the townspeople found you and your friends collapse unconscious out in the snow outside of the town. They brought you all here because I have the room. And I must say I was so worried when they brought you and your friends here! You were all so blue and frozen. You seemed to be the worst of them. Are you feeling better?" Mrs. Knight asked with a concerned look on her face.

"I am I suppose. Where's my friends?"

"That blond fellow named Gourry came down as I was making breakfast and that polite friend of yours named Amelia came down just after Gourry as I was about to bring her up some food. Which reminds me I'm sorry about your clothing dear, they are still very wet. I've got them drying over the fire. I'll get them to you as soon as they are dry."

"What about Lina?"

Mrs. Knight frowned in confusion. "Lina?"

"Yes the other girl that was with us. Near my height, slender and with long red hair. Where's she?"

"Oh dear." Mrs. Knight chewed her bottom lip in distress. "I'm sorry there was only the three of you that they brought in. Your other friend wasn't among you all when they found you."

"She's still out there in the snow?" Zelgadis asked in confusion. 'This isn't right. Something is wrong here.'

"I suppose so. I'll make sure to tell town elder about this. Though it would be useless to send out a search party because she most likely wouldn't have survived. I'm very sorry dear." Mrs. Knight put a hand on his shoulder in sympathy.

"Didn't my other friends mention her at all?"

"No I'm sorry they didn't. Now you should eat up, I'll go to talk to the elder right now."

Zelgadis just stared blankly. 'Lina should be here. In the room next to me… But why wouldn't Gourry and Amelia mention her at all? What the hell is going on here?'

...

Lina opened her eyes slowly. She was in someplace dark with strange smells and her head hurt quite a bit. 'What's going on here?' Lina tried to talk but the gag on her mouth prevented her from doing so.

"So you're awake? I'm sorry that I had to knock you out like that." The man said while lighting a candle so that Lina could see better.

Lina looked at the man she hadn't seen him before. He had short light blue hair and brown eyes.

"10:40 am. By now your friends should be up and eating breakfast." The man said looking at the clock to Lina's left.

'The loop, I should be at the Wislinn Inn, but I'm not. What's going on here?'


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Notes: This is RSBI's New Years fic for 2002/2003 and the final part of this series. (Also the longest part too!) Changed a few things here and there but otherwise like the others it's more or less the same. _

**Winter Déjà Vu All Over Again**

Part Four

By Relm

Zelgadis finished off his breakfast and went out of his room. In the hallway he looked to the door next to his. Somewhere in the back of his mind an image of Lina was there going through that door. But it was extremely fuzzy. 'But then this hallway looks like just any other hallway in any other inn we've been at. She's had rooms next to mine many times before.'

Even though he dismissed the image of Lina using the door Zelgadis tried the knob. It wasn't locked. Inside the room looked like a typical inn room. Perfectly made bed, dressers, closet, table and chairs. And with no signs of anyway sleeping there the night before.

...

Downstairs Zelgadis found Gourry still eating and Amelia drinking hot cocoa.

"Good morning Mister Zelgadis! Are you feeling better?" Amelia greeted Zelgadis.

"I'm fine." Zelgadis half mumbled as he joined them at the table.

Gourry briefly looked up from his food, "Nice clothes," and then went right back to eating.

Mrs. Knight came in with more food and placed it on the table in front of Gourry.

"Well you all eat up dears. I'm going to go check on my daughter right now."

"Isn't this place so nice?" Amelia gushed shortly after Mrs. Knight had left.

"Yes I suppose it is…" Zelgadis said suspiciously. 'Why hasn't Amelia said anything about Lina yet? She'd normally get very worried.'

"According to Mrs. Knight tomorrow is this towns' annual winter celebration." Amelia took another sip of her cocoa.

"What sort of celebration?" Gourry asked through his breakfast. "Is there lots of food?"

"Yes there's food. As well as singing, dancing, and gifts. And it's a six day celebration that ends with the lasts day with fireworks and large feast where everyone exchanges gifts."

"Which day is it of the celebration?" Zelgadis asked. 'I have this strange feeling she's going to say that tomorrow is the last day.'

"Today is the second to last day. The last day of the celebration is tomorrow." Amelia said grinning.

Zelgadis narrowed his eyes. 'How did I know that?' "Amelia where's Lina?"

Amelia's smile left her face. "I don't know. Mrs. Knight said that there were only three of us. Miss Lina probably went on and got to those caves she was looking for. She'll probably get here tomorrow."

"You're not worried that she could still be out there freezing to death?"

"Miss Lina is a champion of justice; she wouldn't let a little snow stop her!" Amelia grinned.

Zelgadis sweatdropped. "What makes you so sure that she continued on?"

"I was the first to collapse. And when I fell I saw Miss Lina still walking. I'm sure she made it to safety. Good is always triumphant over evil!" Amelia flashed a victory sign.

"Gourry what about you? What can you remember?"

Gourry stopped eating for a moment to think. "Umm… I can't remember." Gourry smiled dumbly.

"Gourry it's important. Think; try real hard to remember what happened during that trek." Zelgadis coaxed.

Gourry bit his tongue in deep thought. He was very silent for a few minutes while he tried very hard to remember what he could of that snowy evening. "I was tired, cold and hungry. You were in front of me and Lina was in front of you." Gourry paused for another few minutes. "I remember still seeing you two walking before I passed out."

Zelgadis frowned. He himself couldn't remember a single thing from that trek at all. From the moment the icy winds started to really hallow his mind was blank.

"What about you Mister Zelgadis?"

"I can't remember a thing. Most of the trek is blank in my mind." Zelgadis frowned again. 'This isn't right I know it isn't.'

...

Lina glared at the clock in front of her. She felt a strange magic essence coming from it. 'Chances are that's the anchor to the spell.' Lina tried to free herself of her binds but the knots of the ropes here very tight. Instead of loosening the ropes all she did was dig cuts into her hands.

Her captor had disappeared shortly after she had awoken. She had no idea where he had gone but she wasn't about to waste time trying to figure it out she was going to try to escape if she could. But she couldn't. Lina wanted to scream in frustration but the gag on her mouth prevented her from getting out any more than a little mumble.

The smell of freshly cooked food wafted into the room Lina was being held captive in. It made her stomach growled wildly. 'I'm so hungry! I want food.' Lina thought miserably.

The door creaked behind her and she heard the sounds of footsteps on the old wood stairs. The smell of food got closer with each footstep closer.

Lina cranked her neck to see what was behind her. It was her captor holding what looked to be a large tray.

"I'm sorry to leave you like that but I figured you might be quite hungry. I've seen how much you eat." The man pulled a table right in front of her and placed the tray of food right under her face. He cut the gag covering her mouth.

"Who are you and why have you kidnapped me?" Lina demanded loudly startling the man.

"Kidnapped? I didn't kidnap you." The man stuttered out.

"Really? You mean knocked someone out, dragging them and then tying them against their will isn't kidnapping? Then tell me what is!" Lina screamed out.

The man jumped back in fright. Lina was a very frightening person when she was angry. "I'm sorry but I couldn't let you interfere with my plans." The man apologized to Lina.

"And what plans would that be? Why have you trapped all these people for?" Lina demanded.

"I'm just buying time. Once I've succeeded everything can turn to normal."

"Succeeded with what? What evil plan do you have planned for these people?"

"Nothing. Now eat your breakfast, it's going to get cold." Her captor left her again.

Lina tried to concentrate on getting her ropes loose but the smell of the food right underneath her face made her have trouble thinking of anything else but her hunger.

After a bit of wrestling with herself Lina finally decided to eat. Though she couldn't do it in a very lady like manner. But not like Lina really cared that much. 'Who is this guy and what the heck is he doing this for? Well at least I know who's behind all this. But I can't do anything tied up here! Damnit Zel where are you?'

...

Zelgadis spent most of his day helping the townspeople search for Lina. Something nagged at him in the back of his head about where Lina should be but he couldn't quite get a good grasp on it. Somehow he knew that she should be in the town. But according to the townspeople no other people came into the town except the three of them. And it wasn't a very large town and they didn't get visitors much. So if someone came into town they all knew about it.

It was strange as they searched around the outside of the town. When Zelgadis and the others had made their way to Wislinn the weather had been very cold and very harsh.

But when they searched for Lina it was mild, cool but still mild. And considering how bad the weather is because of the barrier around the town it was extremely odd that the weather would be that calm.

Zelgadis had tried to ask some of the townspeople about the barrier around the town and they just looked at him like he was nuts. They had no idea what he was talking about. They did admit that weather could be bad at winter around Wislinn but it was never that bad all the time. Nor where the summers, springs and autumns as bad as he described.

During the search the townspeople led Zelgadis to where they had originally found them. Whatever tracks that the four of them had made that night were long since covered by blankets of snow.

They searched and searched but they did not find Lina or any trace of Lina.

...

Lina sat in the chair she was tied to with nothing else to do but stare at the room she was in. She had tried to yell and scream at the beginning but it seemed that there was a sound barrier in the room that prevented sound from escaping.

The room around her looked very much like a sorcerer's lab. There were many vials and beakers full of strange liquids, books and scrolls were scattered everywhere and there were several crystals, orbs and candles laid out on the many tables in the room. A large magic square had been painted on the floor and the constant waves of magic power from the numerous spells centered in the room made Lina dizzy.

Her captor whom she finally found out was named Ethan had returned briefly with lunch for her. After she had finished eating he had put her gag on and then left again. He returned hours later and went to work completely ignoring Lina.

From her observations Lina could figure out that Ethan seemed to be trying to make some kind of magic potion, but Lina for the life of her couldn't figure out the purpose of the potion and what it was supposed to do. But she had decided that unless he was planning on poisoning the water supply or making a potion to make himself powerful or immortal that Ethan's motives were not as evil as she had first thought. 'If he was planning something very terrible it would just make sense for him to just kill me. I'm the only one that knows about the time barrier so if he just got rid of me he could continue with no problems. Keeping me alive is just stupid. I could end up escaping. Ropes may be effective tools to keep someone trapped but they eventually fray. And they are only as good as the knots they were tied with. Either he's really over confident that I won't escape or he really doesn't want to hurt me.' Lina frowned at that thought. She really didn't know what was going on.

...

Lina continued to try and loosen the ropes but the knots refused to give. Instead they dug deeper into her wrists. 'Either Ethan is really good at tying knots or he's got a spell of some sort casted on the knots to keep them from budging. 'I wouldn't be surprised if it was magic. This guy sure uses a lot. And if it is then this pointless.'

After giving up on the ropes Lina went back to what she was doing earlier, counting various objects in the room. Not the most stimulating past time.

The door slammed open and down came a frustrated looking Ethan carrying a tray of food presumable for Lina for dinner.

He stomped down the stairs and nearly threw the tray in front of Lina. He pulled down her gag but said nothing to her. Instead Ethan ignored her and went back to his work.

Lina was going to comment on Ethan's current state of frustration but considering that she was captive, she was tied up and he didn't look all that happy, pissing him off further wouldn't be such a good idea. Lina just ate her food as silently as she could watching Ethan very carefully.

Ethan tried to concentrate on the work in front of him but his anger got the best of him and he threw the vial in his hand against the wall.

"Not having a good day?" Lina half joked.

"No matter what I do it never works." Ethan said in a daze more to himself then to Lina.

"What never works?" Lina asked.

Ethan blinked then looked over to Lina. "What?"

"What never works?"

"Oh…um… Nothing…" He trailed off.

"That potion you made. It wasn't for you was it? Otherwise you would have used it right after you made it. So it was for someone else wasn't it?" Lina prompt him.

Ethan didn't say anything he just sat there staring out into space.

"Am I right?"

"Angel." Ethan mumbled in an almost inaudible whisper.

"What?"

"Angel Knight." He said this time a little louder.

"The inn keeper's daughter?"

Ethan didn't directly answer Lina. He just looked off in a daze like his mind wasn't there in his body. "I was only seven when I first saw Angel. I was helping my mother with an errand. Angel white in the face, as if she was made of snow. She was so angelic, really true to her name. And she was very sweet and kind. I know at the age of seven most boys don't like girls, but it was like love at first sight. Angel didn't have any friends. She had been sick with a rare illness from birth. It made her body weak but it never dampened her spirit. She always had the biggest and brightest smiles. Always happy, always cheerful even though she was sick. I asked her to marry me when she was sixteen. She said yes and we were engaged to be married. We were going to get married this coming spring. But on the morning of the last day of our winter festival she was no longer on this mortal coil. She had died in her sleep the night before. Her parents tried to calm me telling me she was in a better place and not feeling anymore pain. But I wouldn't listen. I was too angry to hear any of their words. It wasn't fair, Angel had been robbed of a life and it was ended so short. It wasn't right! So I cursed that day so that it would never come ever again…" Ethan trailed off once more.

"So you made the time loop to try and save her?" Lina asked in a quiet voice. The whole time she had been trying to figure out the reason to the time loop she had thought it had been for evil purposes. She had not suspected it was a reason like this.

"If Angel is cured the town will return to a normal flow of time. The barriers will disappear. But if she remains as she is now the same day repeats. This is the only room that isn't affected. When I had first started up this loop I only intended it to go on for a couple of days, weeks at most. Just to buy me enough time to find a means to cure Angel. But this illness is too complex. And no matter how hard I try nothing works. I don't even know how long I've been repeating the same day for. I lost track in all my madness to try and find a cure." Ethan broke down crying. "I just want my Angel, I want to be with her I want her to be happy and healthy."

"But the spell is breaking down isn't it?"

Ethan tried to regain his composure. "Yes it is. The townspeople haven't figured it out yet but it will be soon."

"Their actions are starting to differ."

Ethan nodded.

"There's too much pressure on the spell and when everyone becomes aware of the loop it's going to break down completely."

Ethan was very quiet.

"And Angel will die."

"I can't let her die." Ethan said defiantly.

"But you're letting her die every night."

He didn't say anything; he just looked at her confused.

"If Angel isn't cured the day repeats right? And if Angel died in her sleep then she must have died before the loops ends and starts up again. So every time you fail you kill her and bring her back to life just to die again. She's going through an endless cycle of death doomed to suffer. Constant suffering that only ends when she finally has release but then is brought back to suffer again. Is that really fair to her?"

"Oh my gods what have I done?" Ethan sunk inwards with his tears freely flowing down his cheeks. "I love her so much but I'm putting her though so much pain. I'm a selfish monster." He broke down into gut wrenching sobs.

"You said that you wanted her to be happy and healthy, there's nothing selfish about that."

"But I'm putting her through so much misery."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Lina asked in a strict tone.

"I should let her go but I can't… I can't live without her."

"Untie me." Lina commanded.

"Pardon?"

"I said untie me. Untie me and I'll help you."

...

Hours later Zelgadis went back to the inn. The townspeople had deemed it too dark to do any more searching. Unless Lina made it to the caves outside Wislinn she was more likely dead. Logic dictated this but Zelgadis was more than certain that she was still alive.

On the way back to the inn he passed by the town square which had a large clock in a small tower in the middle of the town. Zelgadis briefly gazed at the clock and didn't think much of it. But then a strange force seemed to pull Zelgadis' face back to gaze at the direction of the clock. Something about that clock seemed vaguely familiar to him.

Without him even realizing what he was doing he was suddenly inside the tower and ascending the stairs. He reached the top and went on the balcony that over looked the town with the clock face just a foot above him.

He gazed out to the sight in front of him. He could see the people below singing and the snow falling from above. The trees just outside the town were dusted with snow, a sight just like out of a snow globe.

This strung a cord of memory within Zelgadis. 'What is this strange feeling?'

...

Back at the inn Zelgadis went back to his room. Strange conflicting thoughts filled his head making sleep an almost impossible thing. But we went to his bed anyway. He laid there with his head on his pillow thinking and knowing something was wrong. Thoughts and memories lay in far reaches of his brain that he desperately wanted to grasp.

...

Zelgadis woke up to the feel of someone's hand on his forehead. "What…?" Zelgadis mumbled.

"I'm sorry dear I didn't mean to wake you up." A middle aged woman stood before him with an apologetic smile.

"What's going on?" Zelgadis asked suspiciously. 'I was fine yesterday so why would she check on me again today?'

"I'm sorry again! I should explain." The woman put the tray of food down in front of Zelgadis before she started. "My name is Meredith Knight and you are in the Wislinn Inn an inn that my husband Harris and I own. From the name of the place you can get that this town you are in is Wislinn. Some of the townspeople found you and your friends collapse unconscious out in the snow outside of the town. They brought you all here because I have the room. And I must say I was so worried when they brought you and your friends here! You were all so blue and frozen. You seemed to be the worst of them. Are you feeling better?" Mrs. Knight asked with a concerned look on her face.

Zelgadis blinked in shock. 'What's going on she said this yesterday… And that's the same food as yesterday too.' "I am I suppose. Where's my friends?" Zelgadis tested. 'Let's see if she answer's the same.'

"That blond fellow named Gourry came down as I was making breakfast and that polite friend of yours named Amelia came down just after Gourry as I was about to bring her up some food. Which reminds me I'm sorry about your clothing dear, they are still very wet. I've got them drying over the fire. I'll get them to you as soon as they are dry."

It was as if a light bulb lit up in his brain. Zelgadis realized what was going on. He remembered. 'The time loop! We're stuck in a time loop! And Lina and I were investigating it. Wait a minute, Lina! She was taken into that building by force. I was going to check it out but the loop started up again and I ended up back here.'

"Now you eat up, I'll be downstairs if you need me." Mrs. Knight said after Zelgadis didn't say anything. She gave him a smile before leaving him to his breakfast.

Zelgadis quickly ate his breakfast and went to leave right away until he noticed that he was still in his pyjamas. 'Damn. And Mrs. Knight said my clothes were still drying. I'll have to wait.'

...

Leaving as soon as possible Zelgadis rushed out into the town square in search of that building Lina and him had been investigating. Only the problem was though he could remember some of the events from the previous loops, his memory was still fuzzy.

After a bit of searching Zelgadis found what he was looking for. He rushed over to the door was about to break it down when it opened with Lina standing in the doorway.

"It's about time you got here." Lina said in an unimpressed tone before dragging Zelgadis down the stairs.

"What's going on?" Zelgadis asked looking around the room. It was a room very cluttered with magic related items. 'Looks like someone's magic lab.' He looked over at Lina whom was still dragging him and noticed her hands. "Lina your wrists, they are all cut and bruised."

Lina looked down at her hands. "Oops, forgot to heal those. Oh well do it later. Anyway first of all this is Ethan." Lina introduced Zelgadis to Ethan. "He's Mrs. Knight's future son-in-law. He's also the one that's causing this time loop."

Zelgadis tensed. "The same person that kidnapped you?" His voice was dark.

Ethan lowered his head in shame. "I'm sorry about that."

Zelgadis lowered his eyes at him and Lina just rolled her eyes.

"Okay so here's why the loop is going on." Lina started before explaining the whole situation to Zelgadis into too much detail as she normally did.

"Alright… So what have you figured out about the illness?" Zelgadis went to look over what Ethan and Lina had been working on.

"Well this isn't my area of expertise so this is a little on the difficult side. If I was stronger in white magic I might be able to do something."

"Ethan doesn't your town have any priests or priestess?"

Ethan shook his head. "Not many people can cast magic in this town. I'm the most gifted and I specialize in time magic and minor spells in other areas. But I don't think a simple curing spell would be enough to help Angel. The potions I've made up neutralized the effects of the illness for a little while but it didn't cure her."

"How do you know if it didn't?"

"If I can manage to cure her, the time spell would drop immediately. It's triggered that way. So even if I manage to ease her pain for a little while the spell won't lift itself unless she is completely cured."

"Well I guess we should get a fresh sample and see what we can do from there."

...

Lina, Ethan and Zelgadis spent the whole day working on the cure for Angel. They started that morning and went in straight into the night, only taking breaks to eat. But it was starting to get late.

"Perhaps you two should go back to the inn and we'll pick this up tomorrow. The barriers will last out for at least another loop. Because I know you must be tired Lina. We did an all-nighter last night and I don't think sleeping in that chair was very comfortable the night before that."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Just go." Ethan insisted.

The two nodded their head and Lina and Zelgadis left to go back to the inn.

"Wait a minute we can't go in there!" Zelgadis exclaimed.

"Why not?"

"They think you aren't here. When the loop started up again and you weren't here you weren't outside for the townspeople to drag in. They think it was only me, Gourry and Amelia. If you pop up there will be lots of explaining to do. And it's still not going to make sense no matter how well you explain it. And I don't think you want to cause panic telling them the truth. It might further degrade the loop."

"So then what do you want me to do?" Lina frowned.

"We'll have to sneak you in."

With some clever amounts of dodging and hiding Lina and Zelgadis managed to get back to his room unseen.

"So I guess I should go back to my room."

"But it's not your room Lina."

Lina mentally cursed. "And I can't go there just in case Mr. or Mrs. Knight goes in. So what the hell am I going to do, sleep here?"

"You could." Zelgadis said quietly.

"What?"

"Sleep here. You could take the bed and I'll take the floor. It's just going to repeat itself again and you'll end up in the other room anyway." Zelgadis suggested.

"I'm not going to take the bed. It's your room."

"And you didn't get much sleep. I don't need as much sleep as you. And besides I'll keep watch just in case anyone decides to check up on me. I'll just stay up till midnight so that way I won't even need to sleep. The loop will just start itself up again."

Lina looked at Zelgadis suspiciously. "How do I know you won't try anything while I sleep."

"What the heck are you suggesting?" Zelgadis exclaimed with his face going red. "I'd never do anything!"

Lina didn't say anything she just went into the bed staring at Zelgadis the whole time.

To return the favour Zelgadis stared at Lina. Even after she closed her eyes.

Lina tried to sleep but she was having trouble. She was thinking too much about Angel and Ethan. 'It's a strange tragic love story. I wonder if I'll ever find someone who'd care about me that much to stop time itself.' Lina mentally sighed. She opened her eyes. "I can't sleep with you doing that!" Lina glared at Zelgadis.

"I'm not doing anything." Zelgadis said from his chair.

"You're staring at me!"

"What you've never had a guy stare at you before?" Zelgadis said without thinking. He blushed once he realized what it sounded like.

"Yes I have. Just stop it okay." Lina stammered out.

...

The next morning Lina woke up in other room and noticed this when you she looked around. She waited for a moment but nothing happened. 'Where's Mrs. Knight?' She got up and checked outside her door and down the hall. Mrs. Knight was nowhere in sight. Lina checked the clock in her room and noted something interesting. She was up almost a half hour earlier then she had been during the other loops.

She quickly got dressed and went over to Zelgadis' room. As expected he was sleeping in bed. But this time Lina heard something a little different from the other times. Zelgadis was mumbling in his sleep. 'He had said he was having a nice dream the other times.' Lina walked over to him and put her ear near his mouth. She couldn't make out much of what he was saying except one word. 'Lina.' And he smiled when he said it.

Lina blinked. 'No I had to have heard that wrong. He's not dreaming about me… is he?' Lina stood there trying to debate on what to do.

Zelgadis slowly drifted out of his slumber and opened his eyes. He wasn't surprised to see Lina looming over him. "Good morning. Why's you face red?"

Lina jumped back in surprise almost tripping herself. "Gah! Don't do that!"

"Sorry. I'll try to wake up more quietly next time." Zelgadis muttered sarcastically.

"We should get going soon." Lina declared ignoring Zelgadis' remark. 'I'll have to ask him about that dream another time.'

...

After hours of testing and re-testing liquids and potions in Ethan's lab, Lina Zelgadis and Ethan came up with what could be a cure. The only problem was that it was a slow action potion. It might not work in time provided it even works at all. But time was running out.

Mrs. Knight had shown signs of confusion when she saw Lina that morning. Like as if there was something wrong with Lina being there in the inn. And Mrs. Knight wasn't the only one; others in the town started to get confused and were acting out of their normal routine. And what was worse was that pockets of the towns were experiencing fluctuations in time flow. Some places the time stopped for a period of time and then would skip to the current place in time, others would speed up then stop.

The spell was crumbling and crumbling fast. This would be their only chance. They didn't have any more time to make anything else nor the materials.

"We'd best take this over to Angel now. But we don't know if it will work." Ethan gave a depressive sigh.

"Don't even think about that. Let's just take it over to her and face what comes when it comes." Lina half ordered.

It was a very silent walk back to the inn. They only made one stop, and that was at a flower shop so that Ethan could buy some roses for Angel.

Up inside the inn on the third floor in a room at the end of the hall was Angel's room. Angel lay in her bed very still and very tired. Her face was very pale and she looked tired and worn down. But her face lit up with a weak smile when the three of them came in.

"Ethan! I'm so happy to see you. Are those roses?"

"Yes I got them for you." Ethan gingerly placed the roses in Angel's hands.

"Thank you, they're beautiful." Angel breathed in their flowery sent. "Are those people with you two of the four travelers brought into town that my mother told me about?" Angel looked over at Lina and Zelgadis.

"Yes. This is Lina and Zelgadis. They helped me make something that might cure you."

Angel's eyes sparkled. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Thank you so much." She warmly smiled at them all.

"You're welcome. Anyway I guess we should leave you two alone."

Ethan nodded and Lina and Zelgadis left.

Ethan gave the potion to Angel. She took it with her weak hands and drank it all even though it tasted bad.

"What's wrong Ethan? You look so sad."

"Nothing Angel." Ethan tried to smile for her but the smile looked very sad.

"I'm dying aren't I?" Angel asked quietly.

Ethan blink in surprise at her directness. "Angel you're not-"

"No! Don't lie to me! Tell me the truth, please. I knew I was going to die sooner than most people my age. So tell me."

"If this potion doesn't work then you'll die tonight." Ethan's voice was devoid of emotion.

"How do you know this?"

"Because you did die. We found you the last day of the winter festival dead in your bed. You had died the night before. And then I changed time."

"You did what?"

"I made a barrier around this town and set time back one day. And this day has been repeating itself over and over since then."

"For how long?" Suddenly Angel started to feel dizzy.

"I don't know, I lost track."

"Why would you do this?"

"I needed to buy time to save you. Only now the barrier is crumbling. It probably won't last another night."

Angel sighed. "Ethan why would you do this? You shouldn't have condemned this whole town just for my sake. It's not right. It makes me sad."

"Angel I know it was selfish of me but I could let things stay the way they were. You deserve a happy healthy life. It wasn't right that you didn't have that." Ethan lowered his head in shame.

"I love you Ethan, very much." Angel put her hand on Ethan's head. "Are you going to stay with me?"

"Yes, till the end." Ethan took her hand in his.

...

Lina gave out a depressive sigh. She was glad that this was all going to be over soon, but she didn't like what could or would happen. It wasn't fair that Ethan and Angel had to be put through this but fate is fate. Ethan was foolish to try and change Angel's fate but at the same time Lina hoped he succeeded.

"So what do you want to do now Lina?" Zelgadis asked as they left the inn.

"I don't know…"

"Don't you want to go and eat? Isn't that what you normally want to do?"

"I guess I'm just not hungry right now."

...

For the most part of the day Ethan spent at Angel's bedside and Lina and Zelgadis took in the winter events of the festival.

Lina and Zelgadis tried to take their minds off the sad damper to this winter day but it was very difficult. But they did their best anyway.

They sat at one of the cafés drinking cocoa watching the people pass by and the snowfall. It was a very calm beautiful day. Except for all the panic going on.

Rumours started to fly about demons and monsters wreaking havoc on the town. Some people even came to them accusing them of causing the problems with the time. But luckily it was never more than two people at a time and no big mobs have come after them yet.

"It's going to be a relief when this is all over." Lina took a sip of her drink.

"What you don't like living through a day that eternally repeats?" Zelgadis half joked.

Lina just glared at him. "And have the same damn breakfast every morning? No thank you."

"But Lina I thought you liked the food Mrs. Knight made."

Lina glared at him again.

Zelgadis silently chuckled.

Lina was tempted too to either hit him or fireball his ass. But then a better idea came to mind. "Say Zel… you told me every morning I woke you up from a very nice dream. What exactly was that dream about?" Lina teased.

"I um…" Zelgadis' face went completely red. "I can't remember…" Zelgadis stammered out.

"Really? Then why are you blushing so hard?" Lina poked him in the side.

"I'm not blushing!"

"Yes you are you're beet red! You look like a tomato!" Lina giggled.

"I'm not blushing! It's just cold out that's all!"

"Or really? Did it just get colder when I asked you about your dream? Because your face wasn't red before! Unless you do remember your dream? What could you be dreaming about that make you blush so hard?" Lina got into a fit of giggles. But then a thought dawned on her. And then she started to blush as hard as he was.

"What? What are you blushing for?"

"Never mind! Forget I even asked!" Lina said in a very fast voice.

The two were very silent for a little while.

"So what do you want to do now?" Lina asked after awhile.

...

Many hours later despite all the weird happenings with portions of the town, many of the townspeople joined together in the town square around the clock to wait till it turned midnight. For some people this was the hour to mark the final day of the festival, others this was a symbol of a new start. Besides the exchanging of gifts there was one other tradition on the beginning of the last day. When the clock struck midnight couples kissed each other for good luck in love and their relationship. It was also a time for single people to come together and begin new relationships. To kiss someone at midnight on this night was a way of conveying your love and devotion to them.

Amongst the crowd of people Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis and Amelia stood out in the town square watching the clock. It was only mere moments away from midnight.

"Isn't this exciting!" Amelia declared all pink in the face from the cold.

"Yeah more free food and gifts too!" Gourry grinned with thoughts of delicious treats dancing in his head.

"No Mister Gourry! That's not what I meant!"

Neither Lina nor Zelgadis commented. Both of them were too absorbed with watching the hands turn on the clock. Both of them what might or would come.

"Ten!"

Either the loop ends or lasts one more night.

"Nine!"

Or Angel lives or dies.

"Eight!"

Both Lina and Zelgadis watched and waited.

"Seven!"

"Seriously Mister Gourry giving is more important than receiving." Amelia scolded Gourry.

"Eating is more important!"

"Six!"

"Giving!"

"Five!"

"Eating!"

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

Lina and Zelgadis held their breath.

The clock struck midnight.

And everyone cheered, but the loop didn't repeat.

As couples kissed Lina and Zelgadis looked around while Gourry and Amelia still argued.

Both Lina and Zelgadis were looking around to see if they could see Ethan. He had promised to come out to the town square after midnight if the day didn't repeat. But they didn't see him. Which could mean one of three things he hadn't got there yet, he was already there and they couldn't see him or Angel had died and he was too pain stricken to leave her side.

"Zel do you see him?"

Zelgadis shook his head. But then something caught his eye. A person waved at them. He focused his eyes on the person and noticed that it was Ethan and he wasn't alone. "There Lina!" Zelgadis pointed.

It was Ethan and he was with Angel, she was sitting in a wheel chair smiling.

"It worked!" Lina screamed. She and Zelgadis hugged each other in joy. Until they realized what they were doing and they quickly jumped back from each other. They blushed slightly but they then noticed what all the other couples were doing around them and blushed even harder.

...

Late that morning everyone exchanged gifts with exceptions of Gourry, Lina, Amelia and Zelgadis, being travelers just coming through they didn't buy anything. Mrs. Knight had prepared a nice large breakfast for herself, her husband and Angel, Lina and the others, Ethan and his parents. Angel seemed to be doing a lot better. She was still a little weak but she was slowly starting to get her strength back.

The potion had worked around 11:39 pm the previous night. And not a moment too soon. Ethan felt the barrier go down right after Angel went into some strange spasms of pain. He had thought she had died but then she calmed down and all of a sudden she felt much better. Ethan had checked over Angel just to be safe and had deemed her to be back onto the road of recovery.

The mayor had declared to everyone in the town that the previous day's events had been caused by monsters that had kept the town captive in a time loop for a very long time. The reason why he had come to that conclusion was because both Lina and Zelgadis had went to the mayor and told him that monsters had kept the town captive and they came to Wislinn to save the town. The mayor had wanted to congratulate them publicly in front of the town telling them of their good deeds. But Lina and Zelgadis refused. They requested that the mayor not say who stopped the monsters. Basically because neither Amelia or Gourry knew of this and would more likely ruin the story otherwise.

...

After all the gift giving everyone went to do their separate things. Amelia helped Mrs. Knight with cleaning, Gourry was taking a nap, Mr. Knight was talking with Ethan's parents, both Angel and Ethan were spending some quality time alone and Zelgadis was off sitting by himself thinking of things while drinking some coffee. Lina was wandering around and went over to bug Zelgadis.

"Well we did it." Lina declared sitting down next to him.

"Yes we did." Zelgadis said quietly while contently sipping his coffee.

"So what are you going to give me as a gift?" Lina asked sweetly.

Zelgadis nearly spat out his drink. "What?"

"It's part of the festival Zel."

"I don't have anything for you and you don't have anything for me either."

Lina frowned. "You could get me something."

"I don't think so."

"Well what if I get you something, then would you get me a gift?"

Zelgadis looked at her suspiciously. "You giving me something? I find that highly unlikely."

"But would you?"

"I suppose…"

"Okay then." Lina grinned but didn't do anything.

Zelgadis just watched her. "Well?"

"Okay fine." Lina fished in her cloak and brought out an old worn book. "Here you go."

"What's this?"

"I bought it off Ethan yesterday before you showed up. The stuff in this town is pretty old and Ethan has a pretty good selection of magic items. He said if there were anything that would help you get your cure, this book would be it."

Zelgadis just blinked. Too many times had he gotten his hopes up and he couldn't help but wonder.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Where's my gift?" Lina asked giving him a mischievous cat like grin.

Zelgadis thought very hard. "Alright I've got something. Close your eyes."

It was Lina's time to look at him suspiciously. "Why?"

"Do you want your gift or not?"

"Fine, fine." Lina closed her eyes and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

"Are you giving me my gift or not?" Lina demanded just as Zelgadis kissed her.

As soon as Lina realized what was going on the kiss was over and Zelgadis had run off.

"ZEL!"

The End.


End file.
